D-Day came unexpectedly in 2009 for most Torontonians. An announcement came that, should the November 17th vote pass, Toronto will officially be the most expensive public transit system in North America and be amongst the most expensive public transit systems in the world.
In a year of recession came the botched garbage strike that saw the city residents pay striking city workers overtime. Now during the ongoing economic down turn, lower income Torontonians are asked to take yet another one for the team and bare the weight of another TTC fare hike.
FACT: Toronto is the least subsidized rider in Canada or the U.S. In other words, the TTC rider, through fares, pays more towards the operating costs of the transit system than any other city. Toronto is Canada’s biggest city as well as operating as the business capital of Canada yet, budget shortfalls are passed on to those in the lower income brackets instead of levying the funds through a city wide tax shared by all.
At this year’s TEDxTO one talk made mention that a healthy public transit brings prosperity and opportunity to the areas it reaches. Contrarily, poverty exists in the areas not readily serviced by TTC. Therefore, wouldn’t supporting public transit be in the best interest of all Torontonians and even more so, of Canada? Some have argued that levying funds through additional city taxes is pointless on account of Toronto’s chronic inability to efficiently spend what little money it currently has. Some even suggest that an overall municipal sales tax is long overdue and that Toronto is one of the only remaining major North American municipalities that doesn’t have such a tax in place. Currently, land taxes have barely made enough to cover the TTC’s subsidy.
In end, subsidizing TTC through taxes is only one solution beyond the last resort, which is to take a hard look at the bloated system. TTC published in 2002 a report that clearly stated, “It is unreasonable to expect that major fare increases over the next few years would be in the riders’ or the city’s best interest.” So why did we all ignore this? Are Toronto residents getting the full picture on our economy or is the message just not getting across.
We are one broke ass city.
Now just for fun, let’s put what (will) Toronto pays for a single fare and monthly pass up against the rest of the world.
| City | Single Cash Fare | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto, Ontario | $2.75 ($3.00 after proposed fare increase) | $109 ($126 after proposed fare increase) |
| London, England | £6.70 (Zone 1; Peak) £5.10 (Zone 1;Off Peak) or $11CND & $9.00CND C |
£99.10 or $175CND (Zone 1) |
| Sydney, NSW (destination based fares) | $3.80 or $3.70CND | $117 or $113CND |
| Stockholm, Sweden | 20SEK or $3.05CND | 690 SEK or $105CND |
| Paris, France (world’s 2nd most trafficked system) | 1.70€ or $2.70CND | 109.90€ or $174CND (All fare zones) |
| Chicago, IL (AKA – USA’s most expensive public transit) | $2.25 or $2.40CND | $86 or $91CND |
| Tokyo, Japan | ¥160 or $1.88CND | ¥16,820 or $197CND (All fare zones) |
| Ottawa, Ontario | $3CND (transfer is good for 90 minutes. return trips and stopovers!) | $84.75 |
| Moscow, Russia (world’s most trafficked system) | 22 Russian Rubles or $.81 | 1100 Russian Rubles or $40CND |
109.90 € |
25 Comments
Join the boycott of the TTC, Friday November 13 and show your opposition to the fare hike!
Engage the system and attend a TTC meeting. Next one is the 17th. When was the last time boycotting the government got a result?
Agree with both, but with Picard102 more.
Started a facebook group called TTC (un)fare hike ‘09 with the aim of getting people to come out to the Nov 17th meeting.
Please Join and contribute
Uh, bus fare for an adult in Ottawa is $3.00 or two bus tickets – individual bus tickets are $1.15.
La_Souris, you’re right. We’re comparing one way cash single fare tickets and monthly passes.
The information I got was all from the transit websites and are based upon equal leg trips.
Either way $3.00 for a round trip is pretty awesome, compared to potentially $6 in Toronto. Plus, in Ottawa your transfers are valid for 45 minutes after disembarkation? It’s been a few years since I was a child of the capital. But, I used to love that. I could go to the shops and back on a single fare.
Vive OCTRANSPO!
No. Ottawa fare is 3$ unlimited travel for like three hours. TTC should lose its Draconian transfer system, but it is not true to say that in Ottawa you could ever get on a bus for less than 3$ in Ottawa, if you pay cash. Also none of our buses run all night. You will wait much longer and we had a strike last year that went on for MONTHS. Toronto has a great transit service. If you want rates to come down lobby your provincial MPP’s for more subsidies. Ask your city to stop building roads and put that money into transit. If you don’t build it they won’t come.
Goodness people, a little research and fact checking would go a long way.
Ottawa is $3 cash fare or TWO tickets, totaling $2.30, which allows you 90 minutes on transit.
It makes me wonder where you got your other prices, and whether they are correct.
Fare hikes definitely suck, but if you’re going to try to fight it, please do it intelligently, check your facts, and do a damn spelling and grammar check.
As the above person said, to make a change DO something, ie. not a rider strike. Write letters, attend meetings, be a presence, not an absence.
Good luck.
I love how everyone says ‘do something else’ then, ‘good luck with it’.
I would love to hear ‘you should be doing this, and I’m going to start doing it!’
I’m so frustrated by the TTC I may just have to attend this town hall.
This isn’t really a fair comparison. All of these other cities have transportation that actually takes you somewhere. Toronto has really just 2 subway lines.
The numbers for London are misleading. Nobody ever pays a single cash fare, at least there’s no reason to. With an oyster card, you’ll pay something like 1.60, which is still $3 or so.
Adeel, I was waiting for someone to make mention of the Oyster card! We considered using the Oyster card in the chart but equated it to the discount one would get on any line for purchasing blocks of tickets or tokens. The comparison is simply a guide to single way cash fares and monthly passes.
Regardless, if we were to compare bulk discounts for tickets or tokens, the chart would still look very similar. Toronto would still be one of the more expensive lines.
Brian, I see what your saying, but you can’t forget the subway line along with buses and streetcars make up the TTC… oh way… unless you were joking. Then I’m slow.
Does anyone have thoughts about privatizing the TTC?
kc
I’d like to see a comparison that takes into account he amount of tax dollars subsidise each system as well.
Picard, you’re welcome to take the assignment on. I won’t say no.
I have hunches on how it all plays out, Toronto is at the bottom of that list. Some lines have privatized as a way to ensure the service is maintained while costs are lower.
Ottawa’s cash fair is $3.00 per ride–you should change that… and maybe double check the other prices if that one was off by so much
Apologies. $1.15 was for the ticket price.
Fixed.
Ottawa fares are good for 90 minutes of travel, stop overs and returns.
Privatizing would probably work about as well as the ETR.
Basically, it’s time to make unnecessary driving more expensive (ie., tax people who insist on driving) and use the resulting revenue to beef up public transit.
Gridlock is simply costing us too much dough.
Problem is, the TTC and other transportation systems currently under-serve so many people that NOT driving isn’t always an option.
I am actually from Moscow, and completely verify that yes, in Moscow the fares are absurdly cheap for the metro and are waaay more practical and functional than of the TTC. However, Moscow is 851 years old… though it should seem like Toronto SHOULD have more economic prosperity (if we are comparing populations… Moscow contains nearly HALF of Canada’s overall population… meaning 15million). So why does it seem like in a city of only 4.5 million, how come it seems that transit is not supported?
To be honest, I think the government seriously has to stop ostracizing Toronto for being what it is.. which is the biggest and sadly the most polluted, but the biggest trade/commerce oriented city in Canada. The fact that the government does not support Toronto is absolutely absurd. Not only that, but honestly the government has to stop this b/s with Afghanistan… that is complete ludacracy as well.
.. I really wish our weather wasn’t as extreme, otherwise I’d ride a bike 365 days of the year.
Thank you for posting this comparison chart, by the way. It is extremely helpful and provides a good contrast between Toronto and other places.
Finally, a fellow voice in the wildnerness who has noticed the big picture. Here was my quick survey:
City / F / P / S
TTC (2009 $2.75 $109 $91.25
TTC (2010) $3.00 $126 $104
NYC $2.25 $89 $44.50
Boston $2.00 $59 $29.50
Phila $2.00 $78 Free for seniors!*
Chicago $2.25 $86 Free for seniors!
Atlanta $2.00 $60 $46
DC $2.75 $105 $53^
SF (Muni) $2.00 $55 $15*
LA $1.25 $62 $14-36
Dallas $1.75 $65 $32
Portland+ $2.00 $75 $26
Vancouver+ $3.75 $99 $42
Ottawa $3.00 $85 $65
Montreal $2.75 $69 $37
Calgary $2.50 $83 $53
*Includes commuter rail
+Zones 1 and 2
^Typical trip is around $2.75; short trips off-peak are only $1.35 while long distances at peak may cost $4.50. There are no monthly passes but a 7-day pass in the core area costs $26.50. Seniors are half price, but students get no discount.
———-
Take a moment to soak in those numbers. In most US cities, occasional riders pay less, monthly commuters pay significantly less, and seniors/students pay far less than poor Torontonians. Only DC and Vancouver can really challenge TTC riders for the Most Fleeced award, but DC’s transit system is simply superb and Vancouver’s is not so expensive if you stay within the city (Zone 1). If the fare increase goes through, you could buy two monthly passes in some cities for the cost of one in Toronto. This is simply an exceptional fact that deserves much more attention in the press. Thank you for joining the crusade!
Adeel, I was waiting for someone to make mention of the Oyster card! We considered using the Oyster card in the chart but equated it to the discount one would get on any line for purchasing blocks of tickets or tokens. The comparison is simply a guide to single way cash fares and monthly passes.
You’re right, except you can’t really walk up and drop six pounds into a box the way we do here, so it’s slightly misleading. You’d have to work to buy a single token. Your point about single fares is true, of course, as is the fact that it’s very expensive here.
One thing I’d like someone to take into account is how expensive prices are relative to the city. The prices in Moscow are 81 cents, but the average salary in Moscow is 30,000 rubles (about $1100 a month). I can only find numbers for Toronto households, not individuals, so let’s ballpark it at around $4,000. Moscow looks pretty expensive as a result. Similarly, it’s about 50 cents in Shanghai, but the average salary there is about $500 a month, equivalent to about $4 here.
Actually, that’s not right. For the York Region Transit system throughout Richmond Hill, Aurora, Vaughn, etc. we all pay $3.25. That’s more then TTC, hence, will not be the most expensive transit system in North America. Might want to get your facts straight there.
As well, the monthly passes for YRT are $105, and the transfers are good for three hours, on any YRT bus, roundtrip.
Hong Kong is listed in the picture but is conspicuously absent in the charts. Perhaps it is because they don’t have a single transit system (but, can we say a “mosaic” of systems?) so it is meaningless to talk about the cost of a single fare. But perhaps it is worth mentioning that the MTR (Hong Kong’s subway) had been operating at a profit long before it was privatized, so I don’t believe TTC privatization is the answer to the problem.
I also agree that TTC should harmonize its transfer system with YRT and Mississauga Transit. The current system is confusing (esp. to people from the surrounding cities) and it is open to abuse (by the drivers, not by the passengers).
Adeel- $4000 per month is pretty high considering all the students and people with low incomes, who are the main ttc users. When I was just out of school my first job paid $1650 a month after tax. For me to pay $100 for a monthly pass was a lot for me. Years later, I’m now a freelancer and I don’t always work 5 days a week to justify getting a ttc pass. So I drive to work and it is much cheaper doing that then paying $6 everyday. There are always places to find free parking too, unless you’re in the financial district.
The TTC are the reason I bought a car.